The prior art play shovel includes a spade portion and a handle portion.
One problem with the prior art play shovel is that it has a singular purpose, namely, to permit a child to dig in the sand. Often a child will use the prior art type of play shovel to lift sand into a bucket to carry sand for use in creating some form of structure.
Sand structures are a great form of amusement and entertainment for young children and even adults enjoying sandy beaches. Wet sand is often used to create structures on a beach because of the relative ease in using wet sand instead of dry sand to shape sand structures. In forming wet sand structures, children and adults have generally used their hands to shape the sand such as by stroking and smoothing the sand to create desired roundness and configuration. The disadvantage of using hands to shape wet sand structures is that the fingers and hands need to be constantly cleaned with water to remove sand particles especially when a child or person is using their hands to eat food such as a sandwich, etc. Also, unless the person or child using wet sand to build sand structures is very artistic, it is exceedingly difficult to form wet sand structures that have nice shapes or configurations that are pleasing to the sand structure creator and others viewing the sand structure.
Therefore, a need existed for a play shovel and method that would serve both as a means of carrying sand and also to provide a means for shaping wet sand to create artistic sand structures.